Super Typhoon Rumbia
Typhoon Rumbia, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yeng, was a deadly and costly typhoon to strike Southeast Asia in December. It was one of the longest typhoons to strike the Philippines, beating Super Typhoon Tip in terms of intensity. Decimating parts of the Philippines, China, Taiwan and Japan at Super Typhoon strength, it is considered the most intense and costliest typhoon in recorded history, beating Super Typhoon Haiyan in terms of destruction in the Philippines and Super Typhoon Tip in terms of strength and intensity. Rumbia originated from a cluster of rainclouds on December 2, 2018, Moving in a westerly track, Rumbia attained Tropical Storm status on December 6, 2018, before intensifying into one of the most intense cyclones in just a few days. As Rumbia was moving within favorable conditions with the water reaching almost 40 degrees celsius in temperature and with no wind shear at all, Rumbia intensified into a Category 5 Super Typhoon. Rumbia made landfall in Rizal on December 14, 2018, as a extremely violent super typhoon, causing extremely catastrophic damage over most of Southern and Central Luzon, and Northern Visayas. Rumbia left many deaths and injuries from the damages caused by the powerful winds. Meterological history On December 2, 2018, the JTWC started monitoring a cluster of rainclouds 666 km east-southeast of the Marshall Islands, which was designated as Invest 94W. Hot waters and weak wind shear ensured a tropical cyclone would develop. Early on December 3, the JTWC upgraded the invest's chance of formation to medium, and the following day, the JTWC issued a TCFA and the JMA upgraded the disturbance to a tropical depression. The JTWC followed suit 12 hours later, designating it 32W. The following day, the JMA reported that the depression has intensified into a Tropical Storm and was assigned the named Rumbia, which means Sago Palm in Malay. The JTWC, immediately followed suit. 12 hours later, the JMA upgraded Rumbia to a Severe Tropical Storm. On the midnight of December 6, 2018, the JTWC and JMA both upgraded Rumbia into a Typhoon. Owing to extremely warm sea surfaces, Rumbia rapidly intensified to a Category 5 Super Typhoon in just 36 hours. Rumbia had been upgraded to a "Violent" typhoon according to the JMA, and as it entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on December 10, 2018, PAGASA assigned it the local name Yayang, but later renamed it Yeng, due to negative feedback from the public. Rumbia's eye had been drastically warmed, the sea surface has heated to 40 °C, and extremely weak wind shear, and no presence of a northeast monsoon/high pressure area, Typhoon Rumbia quickly intensified and the pressure plummeted quickly. and has become much stronger than 2013's Super Typhoon Haiyan and 1979's Super Typhoon Tip. During the late night hours of December 12, Rumbia started to approach the Philippines, and 36 hours before landfall, most of Central/Southern Luzon started feeling the brunt of Rumbia. Rumbia attained peak intensity during the late night hours of December 14, 2018. On December 15, 2018, at 11:11 PM (PHT), Rumbia made it's first landfall in northern Quezon province at peak intensity. Rumbia remained stationary during it's landfalls in Luzon. The typhoon brought more than 10,000 mm per hour of rain, causing catastrophic floods and landslides. Rumbia later made landfall in Rizal at 11:11 AM PHT on December 16, 2018, at peak intensity, causing torrential damage throughout the region, and later, made it's third landfall in Metro Manila, causing many deaths and damages. Rumbia made it's final landfall in the Philippines in Bataan, causing widespread damage. Rumbia maintained it's intensity as it moved out of the Philippine landmass. On December 20, 2018 Rumbia battered China, still as a Category 5, and later, weakened into a Category 4 as it reentered PAGASA's area of Responsibility, and battered Taiwan on December 25, 2018, before becoming extratropical on December 29, 2018 in Japan. Preparations Preparations for Typhoon Yeng started as Rumbia entered PAGASA's area of Responsibility on December 8, 2018. Storm signals were raised when Rumbia entered PAGASA's area of Responsibility. Signal #1 was immediately raised for most Southern Luzon area when Rumbia entered PAGASA's area of Responsibility. Residents in Metro Manila and nearby areas took to this storm seriously, which were directly hit by Rammasun (2014), Xangsane and Durian (2006). As Rumbia moved closer to land, PAGASA upgraded these signals to Signal #3 72 hours before landfall, later upgrading it to 4 12 hours later, and 36 hours before landfall, upgraded most of Luzon's Signals to #5. Metro Manila, one of the cities to be directly hit by the eye of Yeng, suspended classes for the entire week in preparation for Yeng's impact. Offices were closed 12 hours before Yeng's direct hit, and malls closed 6 hours later. Residents over Luzon were advised to remain indoors, anticipating extremely torrential rains and violent winds. All air and sea travel were suspended due to the oncoming onslaught of Rumbia. Ahead of Yeng's landfall, most of Luzon were put under storm surges, prompting the PAGASA to issue watches, warnings and alerts for the entire Luzon and northern parts of Visayas, the areas to be mainly affected by Yeng. Hospitals were placed under a red alert, particularly those in Central and Southern Luzon in anticipation for the number of injuries/deaths the winds would cause. A lot of the Philippine National Police were dispatched over Region III, NCR and Region IV-A due to the anticipated extreme and large scale impact. Impact Typhoon Rumbia, locally known as Super Typhoon "Yeng" caused extremely devastating and catastrophic damage throughout most of Luzon, leaving all of it's residents with no power for a week, Extremely powerful winds blew away house roofs, uprooted trees, and damaged billboards. Storm Surges over Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur inundated the coastal communities and had washed away residents, owing to the extreme amount of fatalities. A house in Rizal had all of it's residents killed due to the torrential flooding caused by over 2000 mm of rainfall in 24 hours. After crossing Metro Manila, Rumbia struck Batangas and caused wide swaths of devastation, wiping out the entire CALABARZON region. Christmas decors, light posts, and electric posts were toppled down due to the strong winds the storm caused. Right after the storm, The Philippine Red Cross estimated that at least 100,000 people were killed, while the people listed at the Google Person Finder reached 2,000,000. The majority of the fatalities were coming from CALABARZON, with 77,777 reported from this region. Naming issues/Retirement Before Rumbia entered the Philippine area of Responsibility, the PAGASA decided that the typhoon would be named "Yayang", however, after obtaining negative feedback from the public. "Yayang" was dropped by PAGASA and it renamed the typhoon "Yeng". Filipina pop-rock singer-songwriter Yeng Constantino is the origin of Rumbia's PAGASA name. Due to the severe damage caused by the typhoon, the name Rumbia was retired at the Seventh Joint Session of the ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee and WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones during 2019. The name Kinabalu was chosen to replace Rumbia on their naming lists. Due to extensive damage and high death toll, PAGASA announced that the name Yeng would be stricken off the typhoon naming lists. PAGASA chose the name Ylona to replace Yeng on their naming lists. Category:Hypothetical Hurricanes Category:Typhoons